Lately I’ve been looking at a few characters of the Old Testament, warty people, people who really didn’t appear to have much to offer, who God used to do great and even amazing things with. When we look at Great people of the Bible, we can’t really go past David, this young bloke who went out and sorted out the biggest meanest lions that were mauling his sheep and dropped Goliath like a stone, with just one stone from his like trusty sling. David who was a brilliant musician and sang like Placido Domingo in the court of King Saul, David who because of God’s leading him, was raised to the height of the King of all Israel, the second King of the United Kingdom of Israel and the father of the wisest of sons Solomon.
David was mans man, a true bloke, the stuff of legend a leader who lead from the front, from the times he sorted out the Philistines or conquered Jerusalem sorting out the Jebusites or when he brought the Ark of the Lord into Jerusalem. David was a a Kings King. He even has his own city and his own star. Scripture records him as being “a man after God’s own heart”. We have this picture of the prophet Samuel telling King Saul, David’s predecessor that “But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
David was the man; he was God’s man, a man after God’s own heart. That’s not to say he always got it right. He was a man after God’s own heart because he worshipped the One true God understanding the Holiness of God, that apart from God nothing else was truly good, he realised his need to be in relationship with God, he put God first, if we look at Psalm 16:2 we read; “I said to the LORD, “You are my LORD; apart from you I have no good thing.”
Here we have David this great and magnificent king who had the flashest of the flash, the Rolls Royce Chariot, beautiful vibrant wives and concubines, the latest ‘Smeg’ clay oven, the most powerful of warriors at his beckon call, castles and crowns…but apart from God he had no good thing and he knew it. He knew that what mattered was a right relationship with God that having it all together spiritually meant having it together emotionally, mentally and physically. If he put God first all would fall into place.
Then we get this picture of this man who knows all this blowing it, he drops a clanger, not the time when he sees that lovely lady taking a bath from his deck and has his wicked way with her and then has her husband bumped off, I’m not talking about that time. He had to get sorted with God that time too!
This is another time when pride takes over; this is a matter of pride thing not a lust thing. This time it’s about trust in God. Let’s read 1st Chronicles 21:1-13.
If we look at this passage we see that God had covenanted with David and he had would subdue David’s enemies for him. The prophet Nathan brought David those exact words “I will also subdue all your enemies.” (1 Chronicles 17: 10b).
1) Then Satan rises up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. Why take a census? So David can be aware of how many fighting men he has, but why does he need to? Out of a desire to know the strength of his army, why does he need to know how strong his army is? He doesn’t. Satan is having a field day, God has already told David that he has no need for concern, but Satan incites him to count his troops, a cause for concern a sense of pride at the strength of his forces. Maybe this was to be David’s bargaining chip, I’ve got more troops than you’ve got! Maybe he wanted to show off to the ladies or mates down at the catapult club ‘I’ve got one point one million soldiers you know, how’s your little tribe!’ What it really came down to was he was incited not to trust God at his word.
Even David’s General Joab found this counting repulsive, in God’s eyes this was an evil thing to do, so the judgement of God came upon Israel.
The old pattern that had been with the Hebrew people, with all people, with people then and people now started again. There was sin; this is followed by judgement…
The punishment came as a consequence of the sin. Be careful here not to think that bad things only happen to bad people, let’s keep this in context, because while bad things happen to all, bad things often do happen as a consequence of sin. The truth is Satan will incite us to sin, no matter what it is it can destroy us; If you don’t believe that, here’s a question. Would you try swearing at your next important meeting or job interview? Of course not we can guarantee there will be a negative outcome, there are some things we just would not do because of the negative outcome. All sin has a negative outcome…the largest being distancing ourselves from God. Remember the old saying, “if your feeling distant from God guess who moved?”
If we behave in ways that are evil to God we make it hard for ourselves, there are repercussions and David seeing this does something, what is it he does?
2) He says to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this, Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a foolish thing.”
This is a king, one of the greatest known kings in history begging God to take a way his guilt. Remember Satan may have incited David to sin, he tempted Jesus and he will tempt you but look where the ownership of David’s sin sits. Well and truly on the shoulders of David. When we are incited to sin by the same old enemy of our souls it’s not his sin if we go through with it, it’s ours.
That does not make him any less evil, it makes us sinful for going through with it. David knew it, what is it he said, what is it he got the Chronicler to write down, “I have done a very foolish thing.” This is history, this was the news of the day. David humbled himself, it’s a little like one of our modern politicians calling the Press and Campbell live and saying, “I signed off selling all New Zealand’s state owned assets to foreign multi-nationals they now belong to China, what a foolish thing I’ve done.”
They just wouldn’t admit it, whereas this great King, David steps up to the plate, that’s why David was a man after God’s own heart. He over came his pride and admitted his mistakes before the whole nation saying that God was the only real good thing in his life.
The truth is human pride is a big stumbling block, some of us can’t even apologise for a stupid thing we said, or did to our spouses, children, parents, or best friends. We struggle to live under Go’s promises about relationships, about money about freedom in his name.
Here’s David on his bendy knees before God saying it, “I’ve done a foolish thing!”
So what happened here with David was that there were consequences of his foolishness.
3) All sinful action has consequence. There are people who go insane because of the consequences of the sin, people die as a consequence of sin; it’s a little like me saying when I had access to the 33 thousand volt power lines back when I worked in the industry “I can touch that and be okay”, I couldn’t it would have killed me, the scriptures tell us that when we do the wrong thing it goes to custard. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).
Try these on for size:
Proverbs 28:18, “He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall.” This is about a spiritual fall that works its way being entangled through a person’s life when they are sinning against the will of God.
Or Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Have you been watching the news on the Middle East lately, the people are groaning under wicked rulers.
David was in a spot, Gad David’s prophet fronts David up and says there’s a choice Boss what will it be? God requires an answer?
What comes next is decisive, what comes next is really a huge lesson for all of us.
4) David says this to Gad his prophet, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” (1 Chronicles 21:13)
There is some of what we would say are pretty harsh consequences delivered by God in consequence to David’s actions but, David realises these would be more merciful than anything mankind could do to him and his people.
God is a merciful God! We know now that when we repent because of the sacrifice of Jesus our sins are forgiven. In John 3:17 that’s the one that follows the most famous of all New Testament verses which is… and it reads like this from the very lips of Jesus himself; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.” Or this “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
God is merciful; he is more merciful than man, his mercy is great. We only have to look at how humans treat humans, sometimes doing it in the name of God. We have another case coming before the war crimes tribunal at The Hague in the very near future of mans brutality to man in the name of God. The truth is that God’s mercy is very great; it wasn’t Him who incited those crimes.
How do we get into God’s mercy?
Let me tell you another story about one of our founders, now this bloke was the son of a builder who was pulled out of school at the age of thirteen to become a pawnbrokers apprentice because his father had died and, while his mother and sisters were selling toy’s and tape, needles and cotton. There were debts to be paid. All this at a time when mothers were pawning there wedding rings to feed their hungry children, times were really tough.
His conversion simply came at 11 o’clock one night in the streets of Nottingham, England while trudging home from a meeting. As he himself recorded, he saw with sudden clarity that he must renounce sin and atone to others for the wrongs he had done them. Kneeling at a bare table in the Broad Street Chapel, he vowed: “God should have all there was of William Booth.”
What William Booth realised was that God was merciful beyond the measure of man and many of Booth’s early converts were from the darker seedier side of life and not welcome in many churches because they weren’t respectable, because of what they had been. The merciful God we follow knows what we’ve been but in his mercy sees what we can be, sees what his intention was and is for our lives.
What is required from the man or woman, youth or child who wants to be right before God is surrender. For while the devil would incite us to wrong, God would ask that we surrender to his will, to his way, that we would allow ourselves to be washed clean by the sacrifice that Jesus made so that we could be in that right relationship with God.
This principle runs true if you’re a King or a Pawnbrokers apprentice a Lawyer or a laborer, a retiree or just plain tired. This principle runs true; to quote William Booth once more “The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.”
To be pointed about it, Booth our first General was a great example of this, David that shepherd boy is another, these two men knew that they had to give it all over to God to be right with God, to be at peace in their lives.
Do we look at life as born, live, die, dead done finished, or do we actually hold onto the promises of God... in those words of Jesus when he said; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life.”
The question is will we bow before this merciful God; will we surrender so that his power can work in us?
The choice is Sin or Surrender, God’s mercy or our mistakes?
